The Social Adventures and Experiments of Tommy Joe Peterson

The idea of this therapeutic short story is to creatively illustrate the various dilemmas that occur from the perspective of a socially awkward young man, Tommy Joe Peterson. Through the story, the reader is able to gain perspective on the thought process and problem-solving skills of this uniquely talented 11-year-old boy.

Whether this fictional story is read by a child or read to a child by a teacher or counselor, the discussion questions included at the end are aimed at facilitating reflection and interpersonal growth. I believe that discussing the responses to the discussion questions will allow for improved awareness and insight into real-life dilemmas and help children to improve their problem-solving skills in a creative, narrative manner.

The target population for my therapeutic short story consists of teachers, parents, therapists and children of elementary through middle school age, particularly those with a mental health diagnosis similar to or consistent with autism spectrum disorder or social anxiety.

Friendship

Hello, my name is Tommy Joe. I am 11 years old. And in my mind, I am not just a boy. I am the world’s most coolest teenage superhero in my school. Well, at least I pretend to be.

Let me tell you about the time I almost saved my friend William from a flying plate of steaming hot lasagna in the cafeteria. Oh, and just so you know, William is only a few months younger than me. This is what happened …

The day started out just like any other day. I woke up at 6:37 a.m. I always wake up at that time to ensure that I get as many cartoons in as I can before I leave for school at exactly 8:02 a.m. I like the superhero cartoons. Batman is obviously the best, and I think I am like him in some ways. Although most adults say I am socially awkward, whatever that means. Clearly, they do not understand my abilities.

Anyway, after my cartoon time, my mother prompted me to participate in what she calls “activities of daily living.” She is a nurse, and I hear those types of phrases all the time. I have gotten used to it. This is the part of my morning routine during which I brush my teeth and comb through my brown wavy hair. I usually place some deodorant under each armpit, but not a lot. I typically do not like the texture, but I tolerate it enough to get at least a little bit of scent on me. Every good superhero needs a scent — at least that is what my mother tells me.

It was almost time to leave for school, so I slipped on my Velcro shoes and placed my bright red turtleneck on so it fit nice and snug, just the way I like it. I refuse to wear anything else but that red turtleneck. I feel most like a superhero in that shirt. Some people tease me for this. They clearly do not understand my abilities.

The bus ride to school is short. I live only four blocks from the school. And as a fifth-grader, riding the bus is the cool thing to do. On that day, the older kids were making fun of the way I was dressed. They always do. They also make fun of the way I only spray certain sections of my hair. You see, only some sections of my hair get messy, so there is no need to hairspray it all down. Only certain sections need a touch-up.

I do not think that the other kids understand my perspective. I don’t mind though. Life can be hard for a superhero like me. Clearly the other kids on the bus do not understand my abilities. And anything is better than riding to school with your parents, although my mother does listen to good music. But that is beside the point, and I do not want to ramble on, so let’s get back to the story of how I almost saved my friend William from an extremely steaming hot plate of lasagna.

I meet my friend William at the same spot every day before going into school. Every superhero needs a sidekick, and William is mine. William is shorter than me, and he refuses to be called Billy. He thinks that William is more formal, and he likes that. He has red curly hair and orange glasses. I do not really know where he got those glasses, but I like them. His glasses usually slip down to the end of his nose, and he has to spend most of the day adjusting and readjusting them. We have every class together. Every superhero needs a sidekick, and at least William understands my abilities.

The day was pretty boring until art class. It is like that every day. William and I count down the minutes leading up to our fourth-period art class. For us, it is more than just art class. It is a time for us to create new supercool superhero ideas. And on this day, the topic of class was “favorite transportation.” This was a perfect topic for superheroes like us.

William and I decided to create a spaceship. This was no ordinary spaceship. This was a supercool spaceship that William and I had imagined ourselves using to explore the outermost limits of our galaxy — beyond the black holes, red dwarfs, supernovas and solar flares.

By the way, space is my other supercool area of interest. William is mostly indifferent to the idea of space travel, but every superhero needs a sidekick, and because of that, I think he would come with me anyway. I guess the only problem would be if William gets motion sickness. I wonder if he gets sick in the car? To tell you the truth, I do not really know how William gets to school each day. I have never been in a car with him. Quite frankly, I only see him at school. Oh well, I do not want to ramble. Let’s get back to the story of how I almost saved William from an extremely overwhelming, steaming hot plate of lasagna in the school cafeteria.

Before describing the scene that would be about to take place in the cafeteria, it is important for me to be able to tell you how our art project turned out. William and I made a spaceship using cardboard, paint and a whole lot of glue. The spaceship was red, just like my turtleneck.

William is exceptionally good at folding cardboard, so I gave him the job of working on the wings. William attached long, narrow wings that seemed as if they would touch the ceiling. We carefully added glue to all the areas that needed to be held together, and then we added more glue, and then more glue, and then one last coating of glue to ensure that this spaceship could tolerate the astronomical elements that space travel would bring to the table. Every good astronaut needs a sidekick.

Our hands were sticky from the glue. It was hard for us to pull our fingers apart. But our spaceship was complete. William and I carefully placed the spaceship in our art closet to dry.

The bell rang for lunch. We hurried out of the classroom without cleaning up the rest of our materials. This was necessary because we need to get to lunch early so that we can sit at the table in the left corner — the one by the ice cream cooler. I like ice cream sandwiches, and it is important to be next to the cooler so that I can get two of them before they sell out. Every superhero needs his energy, and I just happen to get mine from ice cream sandwiches.

William prefers pizza, but they do not always have that. I once had the idea of putting my ice cream sandwiches on my pizza, but I have not been able to convince William to try it with me. And as a superhero, you need your sidekick to be on board before trying anything new. But that is for another story. Let’s get back to this one. I don’t want to ramble.

William and I entered the cafeteria and at a casual but fast pace assumed positions at our table by the ice cream cooler. The cafeteria was loud and chaotic as various students attempted to jockey for position in the lunch line. The teacher on duty was obviously struggling to keep order. I could tell by the look on her face. I did not have this teacher for class, but any good superhero can tell when another person is in obvious distress. I wish I could have helped her, but I needed to remain in position at my table.

This was partly due to the fact that the ice cream cooler is positioned just outside the kitchen, and as kids pass through the lunch line, they typically select their favorite ice cream product to complete their tray. William and I do it backward — we wait for a break in the line, and then we purchase our desserts first. Most kids do not think of going to the ice cream cooler first because it is positioned at the end of the line. Being the most supercool superhero that I am, I had developed this approach early last year. William agreed with me, although he typically does. William is a great sidekick.

The time was right. William and I stood up to go make our selection. I always purchase two ice cream sandwiches. William typically purchases the Italian ice. At least I think he does. Anyway, it was at that moment when we stood up that I began to notice an increase in chaos in the far right-hand side of the cafeteria. I quickly glanced over, and before picking out my ice cream, I noticed a food fight taking place. It was on the other side of the cafeteria, but it appeared as though it was escalating rapidly.

I needed to get my ice cream. I reached down and realized that I could not pull my fingers apart to grab it. Oh no, it was my worst nightmare. My fingers had been glued together from working on our spaceship in art class. It seemed that the harder I tried to pull them apart, the more they seemed to be glued together.

I had one dilemma with not being able to literally pick up my ice cream sandwich, and another dilemma with the rapidly growing food fight that was moving across the cafeteria like a tidal wave. I had to make a decision. I either needed to take cover and sacrifice my ice cream sandwich, or I needed to take the chance of being hit by food and attempt to grab my ice cream with my glued-together fingers. I had to think quickly.

At that moment, I noticed a red substance flying through the air toward William. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, so it was hard for me to tell what it was. But as it flew through the air, I realized that it was a piece of lasagna. It was hot. I could see the steam coming off of it as it whizzed past the heads of various students.

At this point, even the teachers were taking cover. Mr. Jones was under the table, and Ms. Sprockett was hiding behind the soda machine. The flying lasagna was coming our way, and based on my superhero calculations, it was heading directly toward William.

Everything was moving in slow motion. William was frozen in fear. He needed me. I quickly lunged in his direction and raised my hands in an attempt to take most of the blow from the flying lasagna. Every good superhero occasionally makes sacrifices for his sidekick — at least Batman did.

The only problem was that my fingers were still glued together. The lasagna not only hit my arms, covering me in sauce, but it also smothered William. He had sauce and cheese all over him. And the worst part of it was, I didn’t even get my ice cream sandwiches. The last thing I remember was William tasting the lasagna that was dripping off of his cheeks. William is always good at embracing chaos.

I guess even the best superheroes sometimes have trouble rescuing others. But William and I are still friends. He has forgiven me, and there are no hard feelings between us. I guess what I have learned from this situation is that every superhero needs a sidekick. I do not know what I would do without William. He is my best friend. But maybe next time, I won’t use so much glue.

Therapeutic discussion questions

According to Tommy Joe, every superhero needs a sidekick. Who is the sidekick in your life? Who do you feel supported by? Who listens to you when you talk?

What makes someone a friend? What makes you a friend? What types of things do friends do for one another?

Discuss a difficult situation that a friend helped you with. What did they do to support you?

Discuss a difficult situation that you helped a friend with. What did you do to support them?

The glue on Tommy Joe’s fingers makes it difficult for him to rescue William and pick up his ice cream sandwiches. What should Tommy Joe have done prior to going into the cafeteria that would have made it easier for him to help William?

What is a goal you have in your life? What is an obstacle you face in your life? How can you plan ahead to make accomplishing your goal easier?

What can your sidekick do to help you reach your goal?

If you were Tommy Joe, what would you have done differently in the story? How would making different decisions have affected the outcome of the story?

Is there another way the story could have ended? If so, I would love to hear your version.

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Brandon S. Ballantyne, a licensed professional counselor and national certified counselor, has been practicing clinical counseling since 2007. He currently practices at Reading Health System in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Advanced Counseling and Research Services in Lancaster. He has experience working with both adolescent and adult clients struggling with moderate to severe depression and anxiety. He has facilitated many unique interventions and group modalities in the area of addressing relationship conflict and negative thought patterns. Contact him at ballantynebrandon@yahoo.com.

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